This invention relates generally to supplemental content for programs output from video output devices, such as digital video disc (“DVD”) players, cable television converter boxes, satellite television set-top boxes, and digital video recorders. More particularly, this invention relates to a system and method for identifying, providing, and presenting such supplemental content on a mobile device, such as a mobile phone.
Over the last thirty years, the enormous expansion of cable television channel options, plus the advent of consumer electronics devices that enable a viewer to fast-forward through commercials, has significantly reduced audience program loyalty and the effectiveness of television advertising. Television network revenues have declined as fractured audiences result in lower show ratings.
To offset these declines, product placement in television shows has become more commonplace. Product placement, however, has so far proven to be a largely clumsy, interruptive marketing tool. It also fails to provide a way for a consumer to act upon an impulse to buy the placed product. Additionally, it does little or nothing to enhance a viewer's engagement with the television show.
Partly in response to these problems, television content providers have begun experimenting with interactive television as a way to communicate better with viewers. Interactive content typically requires that a trigger code be embedded into the video stream. When a client device, such as a set-top box, detects the trigger code, an interface is displayed on the television. The interface asks a viewer whether the viewer would like to see more information related to the content being viewed. If the viewer wants more information, then the viewer selects an acceptance icon that causes the information to be sent to the viewer.
A problem with this approach is that a significant amount of effort is needed to embed the trigger codes into the video stream. Also, the interface, which appears over other content, can be disruptive. Additionally, the information sent to the viewer does little or nothing to enhance the viewer's engagement with the television show.
Attempts have been made in the prior art to solve these problems. For example, U.S. patent application Publication No. 2004/0268419 to Danker et al. describes systems and methods for broadcasting interactive content without using triggers embedded in the broadcast content. According to the abstract, when a viewer sees an item of interest while viewing a program, the viewer can initiate a request for information (RFI) about that item with a single button actuation. When the RFI is entered, a client device, such as a set-top box, detects the RFI and transmits RFI data to a server, including the channel viewed, a time stamp and—in at least one implementation—a system-defined amount of closed captioning data. The RFI data is cross-referenced with program time code information, programming guide information, program information and/or advertiser information to determine the context of the RFI, i.e., what the user saw that made the user enter the RFI. Information about the item is then sent to the viewer as a system message, an e-mail message, a post, or by way of any other delivery mode.
While the systems and methods disclosed in Danker et al. open up the possibility of impulse buying, they do little or nothing to enhance a viewer's engagement with a television show. Once the information is sent to the viewer, there is no ongoing coordination with the show. Additionally, because the system disclosed in Danker et al. relies upon time stamps and closed-captioning data instead of embedded trigger codes, it cannot determine the context of the RFI with much precision.
Another example is disclosed in U.S. patent application Publication No. 2008/0092164 to Agarwal et al. and U.S. patent application Publication No. 2008/0092201 to Agarwal et al. According to the abstract, communication networks and methods are disclosed that provide a supplemental content service. The supplemental content service provides synchronized supplemental content, such as media clips, to a user over a communication network (e.g., a mobile wireless network). A content provider offering a primary content stream (e.g., a television program) broadcasts the primary content stream to a content receiving device (e.g., a television) of the user. The content provider also generates supplemental content that is an enhancement to the primary content stream. If the user subscribes to the supplemental content service, then the communication network provides the supplemental content to the user through a communication device (e.g., a mobile phone) that is synchronized with the primary content stream. The user can then experience the supplemental content over the communication device at the same time as experiencing the primary content stream over the content receiving device.
While the system disclosed in Agarwal et al. also opens up the possibility of impulse buying, it relies upon time-based triggers to coordinate the supplemental content with the primary content stream. As a result, the system cannot coordinate the supplemental content with much precision. This limits the ability of the system to enhance a viewer's engagement with a television show. Additionally, the system requires that the content provider generate the time-based triggers in advance, limiting the flexibility of the system.
It should, therefore, be appreciated that there is a need for a system and method that use supplemental content to enhance a viewer's engagement with a television show or other video output by a video output device, while more precisely and flexibly coordinating the supplemental content with the video. The present invention satisfies this and other needs.